DDW 2006 sees presentations on new and established IBS drugs and advances in Crohn's

Digestive Disease Week 2006, an international medical congress, held in Los Angeles, USA, between May 20-25, brought together more than 16,000 physicians specializing in the field of gastroenterology.

In addition to advances in diagnosis and surgery, conference attendees heard presentations on interventions from across the whole spectrum of GE medicines, from early-stage clinical data on emerging drugs, to post-marketing studies on standard-of-care agents. Among these, Swiss drug major Novartis presented new data on its approved serotonin receptor antagonist Zelnorm (tegaserod maleate).

The firm stated that a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study, which evaluated 661 women with constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) or irritable bowel syndrome with a mixed bowel pattern (IBS-M), found that it was "safe and efficacious."